What We Need
by Eliyora1
Summary: (inspired from the Brony D&D campaign on Youtube) The night after finding his captured beloved, Jalerom tries to ease the trauma of enduring the endless hours of torture she experienced...


"What We Need"

A/N: Okay, this story is an extended scene from a D&D campaign I am part of called Welcome to the Show. It is a campaign consisting of several bronies who are known in their fandom community, and the campaign itself has been running for around two years, and episodes of it can be found on the DRWolf001 channel on Youtube, should you be interested. With that out of the way, please enjoy the story.

Jalerom approached the door to the room that he and Faerthurin had claimed for the night. So much had been happening over the last few days, and he could only imagine how she must be feeling after having spent days under constant torture. She had even been afraid when he went to kiss her to calm her down upon finding her, and that had frightened him. All he wanted to do was hold her close and never let her go again.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. A faint whisper of, "Come in," was the response, and he entered to see that his beloved was laying in the dark, all the candles and lanterns extinguished. She had shed her shoes, gloves, bodice, and all jewelry except for her engagement ring, which he could see her fingering idly. His heart aching, he entered the room and closed the door softly, shedding his own boots, gloves, and armor so he could lay next to her more comfortably. He reached out to pull Fae close, and she snuggled into his arms.

"Do you... do you want to talk about it?" Jal asked tentatively. "I'm right here. I'm listening."

Fae shook her head and fixed him with a look that could only be described as desperate. "I want to hear you talk," she pleaded quietly.

"Me? Uh, okay, but what about?" he asked.

"Anything... Things we've been through, what happened while I was gone, things from when you were a child, anything," she answered. "I just... I need to hear your voice. If there's anything you need to say, say it now. I don't care what it is. I just need to know that you're right here..."

Jalerom fumbled for a moment. He had no idea what to say, so he began by simply telling a tale or two from when he had been part of the Dishonor Brigade. He spoke of fond memories with Waltsom, Murphy, Sylvester, and Ben, and spoke of how good it felt to know that they had been making a difference in the lives of the people of Gatless back then. He then paused, growing contemplative.

"It was so much simpler back then... We saw the problems and worked to fix them, and it worked. We took down Windbreath, managed to get someone we trusted into power, cleaned the guard of corrupted bastards, the whole nine yards. Saw the problem, made a plan, handled it. Why... why is it that I could do it back then but... I can't now? I thought I had thought of every possible problem before we left for Baator. I thought that putting Zeadrel and Sazaen in charge of Directian and leaving the council in the hands of all the allies we'd made would mean that Alatastica would be taken care of. But now... this. This whole damn war..." He trailed off, taking a deep breath as his thoughts began to overtake him.

"I keep thinking about every wrong decision I've made... I feel like I could have done something, anything to prevent so many lives being lost, so many people being hurt. We still don't know where all of our friends are. We still don't know where some of our families are. And on top of everything else, we have no idea what we're going to do moving forward. I should have tried to guess at plots to sabotage things. I should have had backup plans laid just in case. There's so many things I should have done differently! Maybe if I had, the Drow couldn't have gotten such a strong foothold. Maybe the Daggers of Light would still be around. Maybe this war could have been ended before it began. People relied on me to be a leader and I've just... let everyone down. What good am I as a leader if I can't protect the people who put their faith in me..."

As he slowed in his outpouring, he felt a small tremble from Faerthurin. Looking down at her, he realized that at some point during his monologue, she had begun crying. Shocked and angry at himself for not noticing right away, he turned his full attention to her.

"Fae? Honey... Please, talk to me," he pleaded softly.

Fae looked up at him and opened her mouth to answer, but a sudden knock on the door startled the both of them. Fae in particular jumped like a frightened cat and seemed to curl in on herself, trembling. Moving quickly, Jal went to the door to see who the hell was bothering them. To his surprise, it was Nora.

"Hi Jalerom," she said. "Just wanted to make sure you two were okay and..."

"Sshhh," Jalerom shushed quickly. "Kinda trying to keep the noise down."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Nora replied in a much more hushed tone. "So, I was just checking on you and Faerthurin. We were talking about some stuff downstairs and..."

Jalerom interrupted her again with a wave of her hand. "Listen Nora. Not to be rude or anything, but whatever you were all talking about, unless it's life and death, it will wait until tomorrow. I don't care what it is, but we really just need tonight off. Sorry, but I kinda need you to not bother us again, okay? And tell everyone else that too."

Nora looked quite taken aback, but she nodded her head compliantly. "Okay... Sorry," she replied. "See you tomorrow then."

As she turned to walk back down the hallway, Jalerom closed the door and turned back towards Fae. She had uncurled from her fright, but he could clearly see that she was still shaking like a leaf. He slid back into the bed next to her, giving her a very worried look.

"Fae?" he whispered.

Fae clasped her hands together. "I'm sorry... It won't stop... I can't stop shaking..." she said so softly that Jalerom almost didn't hear her. After a brief moment, Jalerom reached out and took her clasped hands into his own.

"Here. Let me stop the trembling then," he said, pulling her back into his arms and embracing her. She leaned into him and seemed to relax a little, though her shaking only lessened. He did not mind and just continued to hold her tight, rubbing her shoulders and back in a soothing manner.

"...you love me, right?"

Jalerom blinked at the question. Looking down at her, he answered, "Of course I do. I love you with everything that I am."

"And... you won't disappear, right? You won't just vanish from my life, right?" she asked.

Jalerom was bewildered. "Never. You are my life, Fae. I need you," he replied, holding her tighter. Fae buried her face in his neck, and they spent several minutes in silence.

"Aymer is dead..." she muttered after a while.

Jalerom blinked again. "Yeah... he is. He's been dead for a long time."

"Arkoth earned redemption," she continued, almost seeming to miss his words.

"Fae?" Jalerom asked, looking at her in concern.

"We stopped Simula. Hana is safe in Erneon. We're going to marry... We're going to marry..." she muttered to herself in an almost manic way while rolling her ring around on her finger.

"Fae! FAE!" Jalerom yelled, startling her. She looked up at him and then, to his utter confusion, began grasping at her arms and legs as though making sure they were there. "Fae... By the gods, what did that woman do to you?"

Fae looked back to him again and then suddenly wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly, almost to the point of it being painful, and began sobbing.

"You are real... You're here... This is the world that exists..."

Jalerom gripped her shoulders and pulled her back enough to look her dead in the eye, completely terrified for her.

"Fae, I am begging you. Talk to me. I've never seen you like this before. Please, tell me what happened," he pleaded.

She shook for a moment, then the dam broke and she began to spill every torment she had been put through. The mind games, the falsification of it being to help her, being literally torn limb from limb, being made to believe that none of her memories were real, and how she had been so mixed up and frightened by the time they found her that she couldn't even tell that his kiss had been real at the time. She had been so angry, so hurt and confused, so lost that she had attempted to slaughter that large Drow, had suggested crushing the petrified, polymorphed Jewel that Rime was currently keeping an eye on. Even now, she could barely tell what was real. His strong but gentle embrace, his care and concern, the love they shared, were they all figments she had buried herself in to escape the wretched torment of reality? This had to be real. It had to be! It would kill her if it wasn't. He was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her. He made her feel like she was worth something, like she had something worth fighting for. He had given her everything she had dreamed about but never dared to hope for. It couldn't be false. It couldn't be a delusion. She would rather end her own life than be in a world where he wasn't with her. She loved him so, so much that it ached. She needed him. She wanted their future together. She couldn't be without him.

Jalerom listened in horrified silence at her recounting, and could only hold her close as she conveyed why she was so fearful. He felt his blood boil with pure hatred for what that woman had put Fae through, but it quickly gave way to another feeling that made him start to shed tears. He began to tremble himself as he clung to Fae with a desperation she was unfamiliar with from him. She looked up at him, now concerned.

"I'm sorry... I should have been there sooner. I should have found you sooner! No... I should never have let you be taken away in the first place!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Fae asked.

"You needed me and I wasn't there... I let myself be distracted, let other things take away my focus from what mattered!" he growled. "I... I met the man who assassinated my mother, my friends, who slew the Daggers of Light. I let my anger at him overtake me and tried to fight him and I would have died had it not been for Nora! I almost let my anger get me killed, and if I had died, I wouldn't have been able to save you! I let it distract me from looking for you and I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"A'mael..." Fae murmured.

"I was lost when you weren't here. I was a mess. I couldn't focus, could barely think. You say all the time that you need me, but I need you just as much. You're everything to me. I can't picture my life without you... If I lost you, I would have nothing left." He looked her in the eyes, gently wiping away her tears with his thumb.

"What we have, what we share, it's the best damn thing that's ever happened to me so if this is a dream, I never want to wake up because dammit I need you too! I love you, I will always love you, and when this whole insane war is over I want us to marry and start that family that you've dreamed of. You and me, children of our own... Heh, maybe even adopting Lhark. Our own home, our own little world where we can have the happiness and love that we both want and need in our lives. You say I gave you so much, but you gave me a dream to reach for. A purpose to fight for."

He gave her the warmest, most loving smile that she had ever seen on his face.

"That dream, that purpose, it's you. You are my happiness, my light, my love, and my future. I promise, that will never disappear."

Fae's shaking finally stopped as she stared into the eyes of the man that was her world. No, this was no falsified delusion. This was her reality. HE was her reality. Though her trauma was not going away anytime soon, she finally felt safe and happy enough that she was able to give him a genuine smile, one full of love and adoration.

Without a moment's pause, Jalerom leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss as he had done so many times before. Yet, something about this kiss felt different to the both of them. There was something deeper, something more. As much as they were both hurting, as much as they both felt fear for themselves and each other, there was a stronger, deeper connection between them in that moment, and they savored the feeling. When they broke away from the kiss, there was barely a moment to catch their breath before they kissed again, pulling each other closer and holding more tightly than they ever had before. The air around them seemed to grow warmer the longer they held their kiss, and they pulled apart enough to look each other in the eyes. An unspoken understanding passed between them, and the lovers allowed themselves to be taken away by the night.

The sun rose bright the next morning, waking Jalerom none too gently. While momentarily grumpy at the unwelcome awakening, the feeling quickly faded as he felt Fae shift slightly against his chest. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her sleeping peacefully. He knew that beyond the bedroom door lay a mountain of troubles and more issues to confront than he could conceive of, but for this moment none of that mattered. He gently wrapped his arms around her and held her close, allowing himself to revel in this moment of serenity.

They belonged together, and no matter what, he would do whatever it took to protect her and bring their shared dream to reality.

That was all they needed.


End file.
